Red String of Fate
by an unE1 st8
Summary: 2 people find the red string tied to their fingers, will they find out who is at the other end? Canon universe, alternate events. CH 2 in progress.


Disclaimer- Tite Kubo owns Bleach.

Thanks so much **Tsukiyomi Lien **for beta'ing this one shot.

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Kuchiki, Rukia had woken up to another day, which had recently become a routine. She continued onto preparing for the day, while mentally focusing on the tasks she needed to complete. She had several duties to complete for the day. There were some new recruits, whose paper work she was in charge of, she had to train with her captain and work on her Bankai, and then she had to attend the Shinigami Women's Association's weekly meeting.

By the time she had dressed and stepped out of the room, she was completely awake and aware of her surroundings. As she was walking towards the breakfast room, she felt something on her finger; on her pinkie finger to be exact. She lifted her left hand to her eyes to examine said finger, and her eyes widened a fraction upon seeing a red string wrapped around her pinkie and tied in a neat bow. Was this some sort of joke? Who would play it and when? She didn't remember having a string tied to her finger before she went to bed, and her brother of course could not have done it.

Mentally shrugging it off as one of those unimportant things, she began to untie it. Her eyes went as wide as saucers; when she witnessed her index finger and thumb go through the string. The string was intangible but not invisible; it was the most perplexing thing she had seen so far. Her brows drew together in a frown, while she tried to think of ways to explain this enigma and how to solve it. She noticed the length of the string; it was continuous and dropped from her finger to the floor and seemed to continue as far as her eye could see. Rukia decided to follow the string; maybe it would lead to the jokester.

She walked along the corridor, following the string on the ground instead of looking up.

So lost was Rukia in her thoughts and trailing the string, that she bumped into her brother's back.

"Omphfff" She rubbed her nose quite clumsily. She looked up to find her brother's deep gray eyes staring at her in a scolding manner. He was standing by the breakfast room and the door was open.

"Rukia, please pay attention to your surroundings." He stepped aside to let her proceed into the room and Rukia could only murmur an apology to him and she bowed her head before taking her seat.

She placed her left hand on top of her right hand in her lap while the servants served them their breakfast. No one seemed to have noticed the string on her hand, as they all acted normally. The string didn't seem to be interfering in her tasks so far, and she could use the chopsticks and wash her hands without feeling any hindrance.

After breakfast she headed to her division offices, while thinking if it was possible that a _kido_ spell had been cast on it so that only she could see it or if it was just an illusion. She decided that she would solve this on her own. She would find out who was behind this trick, and if she couldn't find out who it was, then and only then would she ask for help.

The string didn't pose any problems while she held the pen or sorted out papers. Nor did it interfere with her training, it became less threatening overtime and only aroused her curiosity occasionally when she wondered why she had it tied around her finger and no one else could see or detect it. On the other hand, the red string was causing quite a bit of turmoil in her heart and head, because she wanted to know the reason for its sudden appearance.

And before attending the Shinigami Women's Association meeting, Rukia decided to stop by the library to see if she could find some information on the red string. However, when she got there and searched she found no luck and decided to return when she had more time.

At the meeting, it was the same as previous meetings; there were discussions and talks concerning the votes on who was the most handsome Shinigami male for the year. But Rukia was not wholly paying attention to these talks; instead, she was in a daze.

"Rukia... Rukia!"

"Huh?" She responded in a distracted manner.

"We are voting on passing a motion of having a separate training ground just for women. What are your thoughts?" The eight division lieutenant, Ise Nanao asked her, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her forefinger.

"Uh…sure I agree with it."

"Is something bothering you?" Matsumoto Rangiku came close to the pair and stood with her hands on her hips.

Rukia looked at the busty blonde and decided to ask her about her opinion. Surprisingly, Matsumoto was quite knowledgeable about the strangest of things, often surprising her captain. Although Rukia had decided that the string wasn't something to be worried about, nevertheless, she needed to figure out its origins.

"Matsumoto-san, have you ever had a red string tied to you?"

"Ohhohoh...are you asking for tips in the bedroom Kuchiki?" She teased with a devilish smile, bringing her face closer to hers and looking into her eyes.

Rukia blushed to the roots of her hair; it was a bad idea to ask the question this way. _Well too late_, thought Rukia.

"No, I don't mean that…Never mind." She effectively steered the conversation back to the club's issues. Knowing Matsumoto, it wouldn't be long before everyone would get involved and start talking about their bedroom issues and tips.

She'll live with the mystery for now.

Pretty soon, it became a normal thing for her that she didn't even notice the string anymore. She had long given up following it. She had walked though **most** of Seireitei following the string, which lead her to the Rukongai Districts and then through the nearby forests before leading her throughSeireitei once again**.**

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Meanwhile, in the living world a teenager was laying on his bed staring up at the ceiling of his room with his hands beneath this head. From under the bush of orange hair was a red string that came out and dropped on the floor, forming several patterns by encircling around itself and running through the door. Ichigo was deep in thought pondering the string's mysterious appearance on his finger, over a month ago. He had soon noticed that no one else could see or sense it. He couldn't even touch it, he could only see it. It didn't interfere with his daily tasks or jobs; it just bothered him when he saw it on his finger.

He tried to follow it one time but the quest to find the other end seemed never ending and sometimes he'd pass the same place twice. This irritated him and so he decided, finally, to ask one of his friends about it (who was at the top of his class) as surely he would have some clue on its origins.

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"You must be really stupid Kurosaki." Ishida said coolly, as if stating a fact.

"If you're just going to insult me then forget I even asked something. Geez, is it really too much for you to answer a simple question without resorting to petty insults." Ichigo was annoyed at Ishida for always trying to up him by competing with him. Although he knew that Ishida valued their friendship.

"Sit down Kurosaki. I only said that because you must be the only person in the world who doesn't know about the Red String of Destiny."

"Well, obviously I'm the only person in the world who's uninformed about this so called Red String. What I want to know is why do I have it and what does it mean?"

"The Red String of Destiny binds two people together. At the end of this string you'll find the person you're destined to be with. You're probably seeing the string because your fated meeting must be close, you could meet him or her very soon. Or, they could be nearby." Ishida explained as if he were speaking to a child all the while looking at the string, and when he looked up, he saw disbelief written all over Ichigo's face. He could detect the rejection of the explanation coming on; however, before Ichigo could refute it, Ishida continued, "Go to the library and read up on it. There are many stories, fiction and nonfiction, written on this subject." He concluded smugly.

"What the hell? But that's all it is, a myth, a legend or whatever you call it. I'm not looking for a life partner right now, so how do I get rid of it?"

"It doesn't matter if you believe it or not, it's there on your finger and that's a fact. As for getting rid of it, you can't. It may disappear by itself like it appeared suddenly."

Ichigo had left Ishida's house, at least somewhat relieved at having part of the mystery revealed.

Now he was back in his house, in his room, in peace thinking about the whole thing. As he thought more and more about it, the more interested he became at possibly encountering the person he was fated to be with. He sincerely hoped it was a girl; other than that he didn't care what she looked like. Did he really want to know his soul mate like this, what if they never meet or what if she was with someone else?

Thinking on all of this, he finally fell asleep.

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The next day, two people in two very different worlds awoke to the shock of their lives.

"The string is gone!" They both exclaimed, to no one in particular.

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Rukia was disappointed, because after finally having the mystery revealed to her by her captain, she had started to look forward to meeting the unknown person she was destined to be with for life. Maybe she had already met him in the real world, because her string wasn't tied to anyone in Soul Society. On one hand she was relieved as well; because she was finally a vice captain and she had wanted to concentrate on her position rather than her love life. On the other she couldn't help but be dismayed that she could possibly fall in love with someone who wasn't her fated.

She shrugged that thought off with a sad smile, because fate can be changed and one can't help or decide who they fall in love with.

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Ichigo was happy that he wasn't able to see the accursed string anymore, because he didn't believe in predestination, he believed in making his own destiny. Though, sometimes he would wonder whether the string would reappear and who his fated person could have been.

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Not really happy with the ending, may make another chapter to it.


End file.
